A gospel brass band pops up in Durham's Five Points

An editor’s blog or column is historically a place for a publication to express its institutional voice on pressing issues. Yet unlike the INDY's Bob Geary, whose Citizen columns are compelling and insightful, that is not my calling.

But I am a storyteller and an insatiable flaneur, a French word that originally meant strolleror less charitably, loaferbut has come to signify an urban spectator, "a way of understanding the rich variety of the city landscape." In that vein, I'm recalibrating the editor's blog to document the Triangle's urban vibrancy during my weekly 20–30 miles of wandering. (I burn through a lot of shoes.)

That documentation could take the form of photos, audio or the written word. Most important, For What It’s Worth is intended to reflect the times we live in.

I heard this series of photos before I saw them. At around 3:30 last Sunday afternoon, I was walking in downtown Durham when I heard horns and a drum. I found this gospel/New Orleans-style jazz band playing in the plaza in Five Points. It was the same group I had stumbled upon last month in Durham Central Park, where I also took a photo of a young girl hiding behind the band. The music was so outstanding and spirited, it almost made me find religion again.